Pope Francis doubles down on condemnation of Israel

For the second time within the final couple of days, Pope Francis condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza throughout his official remarks. 

Throughout his weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis accused Israel of “cruelty” concerning its therapy of Gazans. 

“And with ache, I consider Gaza, of a lot cruelty, of the youngsters being machine-gunned, of the bombings of faculties and hospitals. What cruelty,” the Pope mentioned. 

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It was unclear which particular occasions the Pope was referring to, though Palestinian social media accounts related to terror teams like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commonly put up about Israeli assaults in Gaza with out positioning them throughout the context of the continuing warfare effort in opposition to Hamas. 

On Saturday, whereas talking to members of presidency and the Holy See, the pope additionally accused Israel of cruelty, saying, “Yesterday kids had been bombed. That is cruelty; this isn’t warfare.” 

The pope’s feedback on Saturday drew a pointy response from the international ministry. 

“Cruelty is when terrorists cover behind kids whereas trying to homicide Israeli kids; cruelty is when 100 hostages, together with a child and kids, are held and mistreated by terrorists for 442 days,” Israeli Overseas Minister Gideon Sa’ar mentioned. “Sadly, the pope has chosen to disregard all of this.” 

A spokesman for the Overseas Ministry mentioned that Pope Francis’ feedback are “notably disappointing as they’re disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s battle in opposition to jihadist terrorism — a multi-front warfare that was pressured upon it beginning on October 7.”

“Sufficient with the double requirements and the singling out of the Jewish state and its folks,” he added.

A navy spokesman informed French information company AFP that it was not clear which incident the pope was referring to when saying that kids had been bombed. 

The IDF informed AFP that it struck “a number of terrorists who had been working in a navy construction belonging to the Hamas terrorist group and posed a menace to IDF troops working within the space.” 

It additionally mentioned, “the reported variety of casualties ensuing from the strike doesn’t align with the knowledge” out there to the navy. 

Whereas the pope has persistently known as for peace and a ceasefire, as he did in the course of the Sunday prayer, his tone in the direction of Israel has grown more and more essential in current weeks. 

In November, the pope additionally appeared to accuse Israel of genocide. In a e-book excerpt, he said that some worldwide consultants declare that “what is occurring in Gaza has the traits of a genocide.” 

In an official letter to Center Jap Catholics, despatched on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas assaults, Pope Francis didn’t point out Hamas by identify and even make express reference to the massacres and atrocities dedicated by the fear group. 

The Vatican obtained unfavourable press lately after a Nativity scene created by Palestinian artists was displayed in Rome displaying child Jesus mendacity in a manger on high of a Palestinian keffiyeh. 

Previously few years, a number of pro-Palestinian activists have proclaimed that Jesus was truly Palestinian, regardless of biblical narratives clearly calling him a Jew. 

Pope Francis additionally accused Israel of stopping the Catholic Bishop of Jerusalem from coming into Gaza throughout his statements on Saturday. The IDF requires all NGOs and assist organizations to rearrange visits to Gaza by way of them. It isn’t clear if the bishop was denied entry or had not but obtained authorization. 

Nevertheless, on Sunday, the IDF allowed Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the pinnacle of the Catholic Church within the Holy Land, to enter Gaza and have fun a pre-Christmas Mass with members of the Strip’s small Christian group.

This text was initially printed by All Israel Information.